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Mets' Tejada testing wheels in Florida

Mets' Tejada testing wheels in Florida

NEW YORK -- Manager Terry Collins gave an update on injured shortstop Ruben Tejada, who went through a baserunning session Friday. Collins said Tejada still has room for progress.

"The baserunning session was just so-so today," Collins said. "I wouldn't say it's a setback, it's just not a big step forward."

Tejada, who is hitting .305 this season in 27 games, went on the disabled list May 8 with a strained right quadriceps. He's currently in extended spring camp in Florida.

Ronny Cedeno has been his main replacement, with Justin Turner filling in at shortstop as well. Cedeno is hitting .254 with seven RBIs thus far in 2012.

Collins said Tejada is getting extended spring at-bats, and once his legs are fresh enough, he'll return to the Mets' lineup.

"When Ruben gets back, if he's swinging like he's capable of, he's going to be the shortstop," Collins said. "I think that when the running side is what they want it to be, it might not be very many games [until he returns]."

Collins harped on how the everyday reps will help later for Cedeno, who has bounced around the league in his seven-year career. Last year, Turner flourished after a similar opportunity for the oft-injured Mets, hitting .260 with 51 RBIs in 117 games.

Turner played both second base and third base in 2011 while Jose Reyes and David Wright sat out with injuries. He's started twice at shortstop this season in place of Tejada.

"I think one of the things that's going to help Ronny is the fact that he's playing a lot right now," Collins said. "And we can go back to what we saw last year, when Justin Turner was in the lineup every day. And then all of a sudden -- when Jose was back, Ruben was back and David was back -- he became an extra player and was dynamic off the bench. Big hits. And I think we might see that out of Ronny also."